


Halfway to God and Man

by transdreamsicle



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bottom Loki (Marvel), Camping, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Minotaur Thor, Monsters, Outdoor Sex, Queen Hela, Quests, Riding, Sibling Incest, Tenderness, Thorki Big Bang 2019, Top Thor (Marvel), Witch Curses, Witch Loki, monster fucking, pseudo-bestiality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 18:33:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21573118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transdreamsicle/pseuds/transdreamsicle
Summary: A curse transformed Thor into a beast, and when it begins to kill him thirteen years later Loki has one last chance to save his brother and turn him back into a human.Art for this pieceprovided by hoekiodinson on twitter!
Relationships: Loki/Thor (Marvel)
Comments: 33
Kudos: 126
Collections: Thorki Big Bang 2019





	Halfway to God and Man

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to the organizers of the Thorki Big Bang, I'm grateful to participate. Also thank you kindly to my wonderful beta, who had the job of tearing this story apart in its raw state. I'll be posting chapters weekly until it's finished and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> [The art for this fic](https://twitter.com/hoekiodinson/status/1199376978349969409) was done by the lovely hoekiodinson on twitter, thank you so much!

Violets bloomed in a carpet across the grass that led to the labyrinth. Sunlight glinted off the dew, sparkling diamonds amidst a sea of purple that bled into the air. It nearly distracted one from the old blood stains smeared across the weather-worn stone.

“How is he?” Hela asked.

Loki sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Same as ever.”

Hela hummed and nodded. She wore a very regal gown for the outing, her usual black with green satin embroidery. The bottom of the skirt was dark where it had absorbed water off the ground. Loki’s memory flashed to a different skirt soaked with red at the bottom; their mother sobbing as Thor screamed.

A bellow filled the air, and all around them the birds took wing. The sun was obscured as they all flew off in one great, twisting cloud that headed anywhere the beast wasn’t. Loki reached for the basket at his feet and hefted it onto his hip.

“He’s hungry.” Loki looked at the entrance of the labyrinth and wondered how long it would take Thor to come to him if he didn’t enter first.

Hela clicked her tongue and put her hands on her hips. “I haven’t found the witch who did this, yet. I haven’t found any witch who can undo it, either. All I’ve found is dead end after dead end. What would father think?”

Loki clenched his jaw. “You mean the man who ran our brother through with a broadsword? Can’t imagine.”

He took a quick step away, but stopped when Hela’s hand landed on his shoulder. She pulled him until he turned and he wished he hadn’t. Her eyes held a sadness he was tired of seeing. Every day they were all failing Thor and even after thirteen years, there was no end in sight.

“We’ll bring him back, Loki. Thank you for doing this. No one else can take care of him the way you do.” She smiled and flicked something off of his shoulder, then straightened her back, her posture alone commanding. Every bit the true queen of their people.

Loki nodded. “He’s my brother.”

She raised a brow and made an interested noise. “Yes, and I know you go to great lengths to keep him happy.”

Loki’s brows furrowed and he frowned at his sister. “I beg your pardon?”

She laughed and waved a hand through the air, then looked off toward the road that would take her back home. “I’m not judging you, little brother, I’m just not sure how you handle the cow face.”

Loki scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you in a week, Hela.”

He turned back toward the high stone walls of Thor’s home and prison and readjusted the basket on his hip. Thor bellowed again and Hela’s horse bolted into a gallop as she rode off. Loki watched her disappear into the treeline and waited until he couldn’t hear her before entering.

There was a distinct difference between the outside and inside of these walls that Loki hated. He hated that he was used to it. He hated that even in dreams, he could tell if they were happening inside or outside because of the ground beneath his feet. In here the earth was softer, more tender, and much darker. Everything looked so fertile and fresh, but if they tried to take the soil outside it turned to ash.

He followed the path toward the center and looked at the carvings on the walls. There were new ones two levels in: Loki’s name etched into the stone. Thor seemed to miss him when he was gone.

Thor’s steps fell heavy behind him, and he couldn’t help smiling as Thor’s nose bumped into his shoulder. Hot breath fanned out against Loki’s neck, and one thick paw of a hand reached for his stomach. Loki turned his head and pressed a kiss to Thor’s snout. He needed to trim Thor’s nails soon, and there were mats forming in the fur around Thor’s neck. Why did he have to act like such a beast?

“Honestly, Thor, what do you even do in here? I just bathed you two days ago and you’ve already gone and matted your fur again.” Loki frowned at the dirty clumps of fur, then looked into his brother’s eyes.

Thor was staring at the food, of course, instead of even acknowledging what Loki was saying to him. Loki rolled his eyes and walked past his brother toward the center of the labyrinth. Maybe the design was a bit cruel: from the outside one might imagine it to be a maze, with dead-ends and false paths, but no. Loki had designed this to funnel any who wanted to do Thor harm right into his brother’s waiting horns. Each path spiraled toward the center, miles and miles of stone that Hela had bought and imported at Loki’s insistence.

This was Thor’s protection and his prison.

Sunlight cut across the top of the labyrinth walls in the center, the temperature change a sharp contrast in shadow and in light. Dew clung to Thor’s fur, dripping through his golden curls and onto his skin. It ran down and created tracks in the mud and dust that clung to him where he was still a man. They’d need to go to the river soon, but each time was a risk. There were more and more people coming to this part of the forest to hunt and fish. When people saw Thor, they forgot that he was a prince and saw only the curse that had transformed his flesh.

Loki didn’t like killing people, but he would kill thousands upon thousands for Thor. There were many petitioners in court who wanted to see him on trial for his crimes, mothers and sons, husbands and daughters, grandparents who’d lost entire generations below them. Hela didn’t tolerate it. Her reign was a blessing for Thor and Loki, if only because the people feared her as much as they loved her.

Loki set the basket down on the heart of the fireplace they’d built last autumn and picked up a fresh, heavy apple and held it in front of Thor’s face. His fur was growing long again, covering his pretty blue eyes.

Thor licked Loki’s fingers, then took the entire apple in his mouth and ate it. Loki smiled when Thor hummed and crowded up against him, sweet and warm as ever. He ran his fingers over his brother’s chest and used his fingers to de-tangle a few knots while Thor ate the raw fruit and grasses out of the assortment Loki had collected for breakfast.

These were his favorite moments: quiet ones, normal ones, just a simple breakfast in his brother’s room.

Loki pressed his nose to Thor’s fur and inhaled deeply. Thor never smelled like a bull, he just smelled more like himself. That was perhaps the worst part of it all; there was still so much of Thor that hadn’t been touched by the curse. Maybe it would have been easier if Thor had been made into an animal instead of being trapped as he was. Everything he was had been left intact; his mind, his scent, the tenderness of his touch when he reached out for Loki. All of it was the same as Loki remembered from when they were boys. What had been changed was the shape of Thor’s body, that was all.

A spell to “release the animal in Odin’s blood,” the sorcerer had said.

Loki pulled back and forced himself away from dark, useless thoughts. No need to make his own labyrinth to pull him into a trap he’d never escape. He reached up and scratched at the hinge of Thor’s jaw. This mouth didn’t allow Thor to smile, not like he did before. Thirteen years Loki had cared for his brother, and he would continue for as long as it took to break the curse on Thor’s body, but he couldn’t lie to himself and say he didn’t miss certain things.

Thor’s laughter, his smile, his voice when he spoke. For all that Thor had been a brute as a boy, he’d read poetry with such beauty and expression.

Loki sighed and patted Thor’s shoulder, then left him to his breakfast. “You eat, I’ll grab the comb and scissors.”

Thor made a low, miserable noise.

“Well, if you’d quit matting your fur like a beast, I wouldn’t have to cut it quite so often,” Loki replied.

Thor didn’t have words, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t speak.

Loki went to the back wall and reached for the second highest shelf, forcing him to go to his toes since it was level with his chin. Thor’s comb was right where he left it, as was the fresh olive oil and the scissors. A few dried flowers were scattered across the stone and he frowned. When had Thor left the labyrinth? At least he hadn’t gone far, from the looks of the flowers, just a few violet blossoms and some clover. 

Thor deserved better than this. The space was livable enough for them to stay, but Loki was still tired of this place. He glanced down toward the bed carved into the wall beside the fireplace and frowned. Thor had somehow managed to dislodge half the furs on the bed again, meaning Loki would need to take them out and beat them to remove all the grime.

Thor was through all of the fruit and half the vegetables already. Every year, he ate more and more. His body had yet to stop growing and Loki wasn’t sure if it was just Thor or if it was the magic that had been inflicted on him. The last time they’d visited the palace, Thor had needed to stoop down to fit into the doors, which were all seven feet tall, and he’d grown since then. Now the tips of his horns were nearly level with the thirteen foot high walls that protected him. He was a giant, yet he picked flowers for Loki to find. There was no beast in him, just a boy who’d had too many years stolen.

Loki walked back to Thor right as half a head of lettuce was devoured in one bite, Thor’s eyes mild and his body relaxed as he stood.

“You could sit when you eat, you know,” Loki told him.

Thor shrugged and shoved the rest of the lettuce in his mouth, then took a deep breath and scratched his stomach. Done for the time being, then.

Loki pushed Thor’s shoulder and Thor huffed at him, but sat against the hearth, flinging his tail out of the way as he did. The sun was already up over Thor’s head; the light framed between his horns as Loki knelt in front of his brother. 

He dragged the comb over Thor’s thighs first, working through the curls until they were waves. Thor’s legs never needed much grooming, but Loki still liked to. A prince should be spoiled whenever possible, their mother had always said. The comb was the same one Thor had been given he was a child, right around the time he’d first needed his hair cut. Its deep, red rosewood contrasted against Thor’s fur.

Thor’s lower legs were hopeless, but there were no mats so Loki left them alone. His hooves needed to be scrubbed, but they looked fine otherwise. Loki wondered if he could get away with polishing them like he’d seen on show horses. Not likely.

Loki climbed up from the ground and straddled Thor’s thighs. Thor held him by the hips and kissed his shoulder. The feel of Thor’s lips pressing against his skin made him smile. Thor always was sweet for such a brute, that had never changed. Loki started combing at Thor’s chest, right at his sternum where the fur tapered off with wipsy little curls.

Thor nudged his shoulder and squeezed his hips, gentle like he’d learned after too many times of bruising Loki black and blue. 

“You will wait until I’m finished, Thor,” Loki said as he worked his fingers through a knot next to Thor’s collar bone.

He combed across Thor’s chest and shoulders, then reached for the oil and poured some into his hand. Thor’s eyes slipped shut as he massaged oil into the matted fur and began gently pulling to work some of it loose. It would be better to leave the mats to fall out naturally, but he hated the look of them and he hated the way the oil attracted dirt. 

Thor kept still while he worked. Above them the sun climbed higher and higher, warming them and drying the last of the dew in Thor’s fur. Loki grabbed the scissors and carefully set the blades behind the first clump of fur, then snipped it off. He tossed the mat into the fireplace and went to the next. There was a whole row of them, like Thor had rubbed his neck on something.

“Did you go foraging?” Loki asked.

Thor gave a shallow nod and took a deep breath.

He’d probably rubbed on a tree to scratch himself if his nails hadn’t been enough. That was why Loki hated leaving him. Thor never said anything, but Loki wondered if Thor could remember that he was still human somewhere if he was alone. When Loki was gone and Thor was left with nothing but his thoughts and the winding walls of stone did he become someone else? Something else? 

A thought came to him, the same one he’d been having for over a decade, the one that haunted him at night when he chased sleep like a starving dog after a rabbit. The thought, though simple, was cruel as ever: he needed to break this curse.

Loki clipped the last mat free and combed through Thor’s fur until there were no tangles and the waves were soft and silky. Thor’s hands wandered around to his ass, thick fingers kneading the muscle and pulling him open. A low, soft hum shook in Loki’s chest as he ran his fingers through the fur on Thor’s chest, scratching at the skin beneath.

Thor groaned and Loki felt a thrill in his stomach. Every sound Thor made was caught between animal and man; a thin line tread where Thor was a beast, and yet still Loki’s brother. 

Loki glanced down and saw Thor’s cock growing thick. It was a wonder Thor had waited even this long.

Loki leaned in and pressed a kiss to Thor's cheek, nuzzling in his fur and humming at the warmth of it. Thor's fingers dipped into his crack and rubbed his hole. Relaxing was simple, easy. He would always be glad to welcome his brother into himself. The oil had solid chunks floating in it that melted when they hit his skin. He reached under and worked himself open quickly, nuzzling into Thor's fur as he did.

Thor rubbed his back and crooned, nearly a man again for a few low notes. Such a beautiful sound, even still. Loki wished they’d been able to do this before the curse, wished he’d been as brave as Thor needed him to be.

He thrust in and out of himself with three fingers, then four, and groaned into Thor’s fur when he rubbed his sweet spot. Thor huffed and reached back, rubbing the rim of his hole where it was stretched. 

“Oh, Thor,” Loki sighed. 

He reached up with his free hand and grabbed Thor’s horn to steady himself. Thor’s cock was hard, nudging into the crease of his hip, so thick that Loki knew no one else would ever be good enough.

When he pulled his fingers free two of Thor’s took their place. As many times as they’d done this, Loki was still so sensitive to Thor’s touch, still came too quickly when any part of his brother was inside of him. It didn’t help that Thor seemed to delight in torturing him with pleasure. Thor rubbed his sweet spot over and over until he was sobbing and shaking, cum leaking out of him and trickling down the underside of his dick, making a mess in Thor’s fur.

Thor pressed just a little harder and Loki’s entire body tensed. The pleasure overwhelmed him and he screamed as he came hard, vision whiting out and head swimming. He went limp in Thor’s lap, groaning weakly as Thor slid a third finger into him. Fire rushed up his spine when Thor pulled them right back out and guided his cock to Loki’s gaping hole.

His eyes rolled back in his skull as the head of Thor’s dick pushed in and stretched him even more. There was never enough room in him and he loved that, loved that his body had to be forced to let Thor in.

“Fuck, yes, get inside me Thor, please.” He buried his face in the fur at Thor’s neck and breathed in his brother’s scent. Musky and sharp with sweat, sweet from grass and flowers. He smelled as wild as he looked.

Thor was gentle, despite it all, despite being as much animal as man. Loki relaxed as Thor fucked up into his body and took pleasure from him. He loved this, loved providing this, loved that his desire was returned. He liked to think that it was the human part of Thor that loved him like this. Or maybe both parts. He didn’t care, he just needed. 

Loki buried his face in Thor’s soft fur and held on until Thor tensed and then stilled. That fat cock inside him jumped, pumping him full until he was leaking. 

He grinned and pulled back, looking into Thor’s eyes as they glowed in the morning light. “You’re an animal when it counts, aren’t you?”

Thor huffed and nuzzled his neck, fingers digging into his sides, then easing up so he could stand on his shaking legs. Loki ran his hands through his hair and looked Thor over now. No mats, but there was cum that would dry on him. That wasn’t ideal, not that Thor cared, of course.

Loki bid his brother to stand with a roll of his wrist. “Alright, up.”

Thor groaned and stood, patient as Loki used what little water was left in a nearby pail to rinse him. They’d need to go for more soon. The last thing he needed was for Thor to become sick from drinking stale water.

Loki splashed the last on Thor’s stomach and watched his brother shake it off. He laughed quietly, just to himself, but it died when Thor turned around to take a snack from the leftover produce in the basket.

“What’s this?” He reached out and touched Thor’s back.

A sickly, green-gray rash was spreading across the lower part of Thor’s back by the root of his tail. The outer edges looked bruised, but it was more concentrated around the scar where Odin had run a sword through Thor, thinking in his cowardice that death would be better than this life. Loki ran his fingers across the edge of the rash. Thor didn’t seem to notice, so at least it didn’t hurt. He traced the infected veins and whispered every healing spell he could think of. The rash shrank back along the paths of Thor’s veins, but did not disappear.

His stomach dropped. After thirteen years of biding his time, of practicing magic and learning every kind of transformation spell that existed, it wasn’t enough. This, he knew, would kill Thor. The spell that had turned him into this creature was designed to kill him. If not through external forces, then from within. Fuck. Loki had made the mistake of thinking he had time. He couldn’t try any of the spells he’d written and experimented with. He didn’t know if they would work. This wasn’t like turning a flower into a snake, this was untangling hatred and fear, it was returning Thor to who he used to be, a boy Loki barely remembered clearly. Trying might kill Thor for all he knew, or make it worse. They never found the witch who did this so he didn’t even know how the curse had been done.

His thoughts swirled in a tempest inside his head and settled as one undeniable fact: he couldn’t break the curse.

They all thought the true breadth of the curse was turning Thor into a beast to punish Odin. Apparently, that was only the hope of fools.

Loki whispered the same few healing spells over and over until the rash was as small as he could force it. Even with his effort, it still concentrated sick and black around the scar. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his frantic heart. Tears stung his eyes and he let them fall. Who would Thor tell if he wept?

Thor turned around and Loki stubbornly kept his eyes closed as he cried. Big, soft thumbs rubbed his tears away. Thor’s droning, bovine voice lilted across two small syllables: Loki’s name. That was the only thing Thor could still say with any kind of clarity.

Loki opened his eyes and looked up into the bright, soft blue of Thor’s. There was a worried set to his brow that made his eyes look down-turned. His hands came up and he formed shaky, uncertain signs from the language they’d made up years ago.

“Problem?” Thor asked.

Loki nodded. “Yes.”

Thor made a little questioning noise, then signed, “bad problem?”

Again Loki nodded. “Very.”

Thor’s face relaxed, his shoulders dropped. He reached back and felt where Loki had healed him, then brought his hands back up. “I’m dying.”

Loki’s breath shook and more tears filled his eyes. “I believe so.”

Thor sat back down and looked at his hands. They were still human, but so preposterously large, easily three times larger than Loki’s own hands. His body still ached from having Thor’s fingers inside him and the feeling felt altogether out of place in this moment, but that ache kept him level-headed. He would not lose Thor now. He couldn’t.

“Thor,” he said softly, “we have to go home. I need access to the library at the palace.”

Thor nodded and ate an apple whole, chewing the fruit slowly, methodically, with his jaw working side-to-side to mash it up. Loki rested his hand on Thor’s forehead and stroked at a permanent little whorl in Thor’s fur right above his eyes. Calling it a cowlick felt derisive, so Loki didn’t, but that was what it was. 

How long had he staved off this last phase of the curse? The labyrinth was built to protect Thor, to keep him safe physically, but Loki had lost count of all the spells he’d breathed into the stone. They didn’t know if Thor would retain his mind, so Loki made spells to keep his brother sane. They didn’t know if Thor would age more quickly, so Loki wrote spells to keep him healthy and young. Anything he or Hela could possibly think that would go wrong, Loki wrote a spell to counteract. 

It didn’t matter. All of these were just bandages on an ever-deepening wound that was now, finally killing Thor. 


End file.
